Eagles Volleyball Fights Off Seton Hill

(Posted September 16, 2006)

Juniata 3, Trinity (Texas) 0
Juniata 3, Seton Hill 0
HUNTINGDON, Pa. ? After earning a victory over the second-ranked team in Division III the previous night, the top-ranked Juniata College women?s volleyball team showed no signs of a letdown as the Eagles improved to 12-0 with victories over 20th-ranked Trinity University and Seton Hill University on the final day of the ?Wid? Guisler Invitational.
Juniata topped Trinity by scores of 32-30, 30-25, 30-27 and then rebounded from a game-one loss to Seton Hill to earn a 32-34, 30-21, 30-22, 30-18 victory over the Griffins.
With game one against Trinity tied at 30 points apiece a ball handling error by the Tigers gave the Eagles a chance to finish the game. Amber Thomas (Conestoga Valley/Ephrata) would then close out game one with one of her team-high 15 kills. Another Juniata run in game two would put distance between the Eagles as the home team ran off five straight points with the score tied at 23 to take control of the game. It would be more of the same in game three as the Tigers battled but were unable to hang with Juniata at the end.
Beth Kozak (Huntingdon/Huntingdon) directed the Juniata offense as she dished out 31 assists, while registering 16 digs. Stephanie Kines (Townson/Townson, Md.) also added nine kills in the match offensive for the Eagles.
In the second game of the day the Griffins of Seton Hill showed no fear of Juniata early on as they took game one 34-32. Seton Hill pounded out 14 kills in the first game and hit .231 to help claim that game. Juniata would come alive in game two and never look back as they hit .448 in the second game.
In games three and four the Eagles tampered with many different lineups but the result was the same. The Eagles had 29 kills over the final two games and held the visitors to a .237 hitting percentage in game three and a negative -.176 hitting percentage in game four.
Aly Pompeani (Hopewell/Aliquippa) lead the Eagles with 17 kills against the Griffins, while Jessica Ritchey (Greencastle-Antrim/Greencastle) dished out 42 assists. Kristi Fitzsimmons (Diamond Ranch/Pomona) led all players with 22 digs.
Thomas and Rachael Schatz (West Perry/Elliotsburg) were both named to the All-Tournament Team for the Blue and Gold.
The Eagles are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Susquehanna for their first conference match of the season.
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